Ventura Half Marathon Race Review + Our Little School

Before I jump into all things running, I need talk about our beautiful little school. Yesterday we had our first Community Meeting of the year. At this weekly event we invite parents and celebrated one scholar from each homeroom who exemplified our school values over the course of the week. Yesterday was the first day that felt somewhat smooth. I need to make a huge poster next summer that says “It gets better” and hang it up in my office.

August and September are insane. Lower elementary is so different in the fall than middle school. Middle schoolers start compliant and eager, and gradually start testing you, while elementary school kids need a lot of socializing. On top of the regular get school running craziness and learning the new personalities of some of our more difficult students, we have our annual audit at the end of the month and this week our permanent facility project is going to city hall for a public hearing. We’re rallying a huge group of parents to join us at our hearing so that we can be sure to get approved finish our project by the 2017-2018 school-year.

The Saturday after the first week of school I was so ready to sleep in , but I couldn’t make it past 5:30 am. I was lazy all morning. By lazy I mean I had a huge bowl of granola, two cups of coffee, and worked for four hours. It was so nice to get uninterrupted work done on the couch. Saturday night Brent and I went out for dinner in Costa Mesa at the #2 Jonathan Gold restaurant, Taco Maria. It did not disappoint. Worth the drive down to Orange County. I carbed up with the 4 course meal (and margarita-ed) up and was ready to run on Sunday. Sunday morning Gisele, Ellen and I met up to make the drive to Ventura for a 6:30 am start time. I wondered what my Mexican food would do to me on race day (I might swear by it now). We ran into Shannon at Starbucks in Ventura, one of the Marina girls I run with. She was there to support Emily and Alison, going for a BQ on the day before registration. Spoiler alert, they did it! Emily finished in 3:23 (she needed a 3:40) and Alison finished in 3:27 (needing a 3:35).

I was screaming like a crazy woman watching them cross the finish line. So so happy for them! I also ran into Kristine Rezny, our counseling intern back at KIPP who now works full time at a Green Dot middle school. She’s coming back from injury, but is also a Boston Qualifier and will be there in 2017. Boston’s gonna be a big ole party this year! Ellen, Gisele, Alison, Emily, Kristine. Can’t wait for this year’s nerd convention.

So the race, I was definitely going to try, and I was excited to see what I had in me. Even though I won entry to the race last minute and didn’t pay to participate (SO GRATEFUL!) I don’t see the point in going to a race and taking it easy. Why not just go for a run? I ran the first two miles on feel. 6:25ish. Turns out that was the pace of the day. I was in something like 5th place, and ran the first 5ish miles with a pack of guys. I was scared to be running what is fast for me stayed positive and eventually passed them.

To keep me calm and take my mind off the race, I cheered for the marathoners who we were passing. They started 30 minutes prior, so we were passing the 4:30-5:00 pace groups. At the turn-around I had worked my way to second place. I felt nervous because the girls I passed looked like “real runners.” They were more intense looking than me and visibly seemed to be taking the whole race more seriously.

My arm on the right with the man pack.

Gisele saw me at the turn around and shouted “you’re in second!” Around mile 9 I came up to the first place woman. It’s really awkward passing someone for first. I turned to her and said “Thank you. You’ve been pushing me. I hope I don’t fall apart!” I wondered how much she hated me for talking to her, but I ran into her after the race and she was so sweet! She goes “You didn’t fall apart! Congratulations!” Gotta love the running community.

The last 4 miles were lonely. Being an out-and-back course, I had passed everyone on the turn around and there were no other runners in sight, but I just held it and only allowed myself to look at my pace, not the total time. I finished with the 5Kers, looked down at my watch and saw 1:24:06. Finishing 1st out of 900ish women felt pretty darn good. Granted, I’m pretty sure all the fasties were at the Santa Monica Classic 10K, happening the same day. I couldn’t believe the 2 minute PR and was so happy with how comfortably hard it felt. Gisele looked so strong finishing in 1:27, and Ellen made her 1:36 look easy. She’s definitely got a sub 1:35 in her. Next up, Long Beach on October 9th!

Thinking of running this race next year?

Pros:

Flat course

Start and finish at the Ventura Pier

Great energy!

Free photos

Race day pick-up for an extra fee

Lots of post race food

Cute shirts and performance hats

Free parking all over town

Lots of water stations with nuun

Cons:

If you don’t like out and backs, you’ll hate this course. I like them because you can see your friends who are running the race too!

A good hour drive from LA

And I have to leave you with photos from my post-long run brunch. We’ve been to The Tasting Kitchen for dinner, but never for brunch. Short rib hash was the perfect recovery food. Carbs. Iron. Deliciousness. And yummy cocktails that I imagine aren’t great for recovery, but make life fun.